One lonely little human...

I guess you could call the following the summation of my background texts and the story presented by my comic strips. For simplicity's sake just think of it as the first chapter of my Felarya based novel.

Many treasure hunters journeyed into the jungles of Felarya with the hopes of striking rich quickly, but even more ambitious (or in some cases, foolhardy) individuals sought to settle there and establish even more profitable ventures. Within days many of these settlements turned into ghost towns. Others vanished into obscurity. However, at least one surmounted the obstacles and learned what must be done to survive in such a treacherous place.

The village of Ellis, containing perhaps only a few hundred inhabitants, maintained its existence quietly and peacefully in the mountains along the southern realm of Felarya. It had survived there for nearly a century, miraculously having fended off the countless attempts at its destruction. Its protection, the clan who also bears the name of Ellis in honor of the village's founder, had learned well the techniques to defeat giant carnivores and invading armies alike. Like the knights templar, its warriors trained from childhood to master the arts of combat and stealth. In their adulthood, they would fight with their lives to keep the peace and let their families live in safety. Their ancestors, a few of whom carried the bloodlines of elves and nekos, had given them the inheritance of mobility and senses beyond those of ordinary humans. In addition to this, their forges and armories had provided them with a near endless supply of high caliber antipred rifles.

Their mantra is simple: only kill what must be killed. If conflict can be averted, then it shall be avoided. To the creatures that come for their blood they offer the blood of the prisoners who were already condemned to death. To those who came for their land they bury in the same earth. They are a proud people, who stand even upon the edge of death with their heads held high. These traits has put them more at odds with other humans than it does with any other race. Monsters can be negotiated with; they understand well that they can either benefit from mutual understanding or suffer from calculated extermination, if such action is necessary. Human armies do not seem to comprehend this, so often they simply run headlong to their own deaths for no particular reason. The Ellis clan has no misgivings for putting members of their own species out of their misery, as far as they're concerned most if not all outsiders to their village are nothing but a liability. But if negotiations can begin with a carnivore, it can become a strong ally and a valuable asset. And thus through bargaining the village of Ellis has merged with its environment, a feat that only few other humans have ever dreamed of accomplishing.

In spite of all the (quite necessary) measures taken to bolster the village's military strength, because their only interest is self-defense their lives have become for the most part uneventful, for only once in a matter of months does a real threat arise. Only a select few elite troopers and their squads are needed to monitor the borders and keep neighboring parties in check. The remainder of the clan, though still maintaining strict training and vigilance, have settled down, even started families of their own. The few elites on border duty may have to wait quite a while until suitable replacements for them are available to take their place so that they may finally return home. Interestingly enough, one such border guardian kept this post by choice.

Eliram Nadiel Ha'Ellisi was born into a reasonably well known family within the Ellis clan. Decades before his birth the clan really did exist as one extended family, however since then it had accepted new members with exotic bloodlines, which turned the clan into a veritable mix of different families who stood under the same banner, but wore their own coats of arms. The Nadiel family had been an offshoot of the bloodline from the first Lord Ellis, and gained a reputation for their unwavering loyalty to him. Even generations later this fact would not change. It was in defense of his honor that the current Nadiel's parents sacrificed themselves in glorious battle, which left their impressionable 8-year-old as an orphan. In an amazing twist of irony, the naga they had given their lives to slay also had with her a young hatchling, which too was left alone in the world.

In a stroke of genius, Lord Ellis himself saw potential for both orphans to be of great use to him when they came of age, so he took the both of them under his wing and treated them as his own offspring. Nadiel was to see exactly what it was that his village fought against with his own two eyes, and have knowledge as his weapon when it would come time for him to serve in the clan himself. The young hatchling naga, who was given the name "Ryoko", was to be kept and taught to live peacefully alongside mankind, so that when she reached adulthood she might be a valuable component of the village's defense. Having seen the success that the Miratans had accomplished with a similar venture, the task seemed possible.

As brilliant and wise as the idea may have been, neither Nadiel nor Ryoko took to it quickly. Both were certain that the other was responsible for their parents' deaths. However, as time would pass they came to the realization that the only thing they had left to cling to was eachother. They may not have become siblings as Lord Ellis had intended, but they became close friends. They did learn from one another, everything from contests of physical prowess to failed attempts at imitating eachother's feeding habits. Four years later another fateful day would come to pass, Nadiel was to at long last enter the clan's military academy, while Ryoko, who was now more than twice his size, was returned to the wilderness, the two of them having become wise enough to the ways of the world to follow their own paths.

After completing his training and surviving his first years as a regular in the Ellisian infantry, Nadiel had reached a high enough rank to make his own choices for the first time in his life. He would hone his marksmanship to near perfection and later earn his entry into the special operations division of the Ellis clan, and after proving his worth as a slayer of men and monsters he eventually was recognized for his skills and made into a squad leader. Having reached age 20, he was now unquestionably elite. Though he could be sent on adventures into far off lands or fight on the front lines of foreign wars, his place was on the borders of his home. Certainly not the most exciting post, but one that just might give him an opportunity to see his long lost childhood friend one last time. And since then that's where he's remained, bored out of his mind but still hopeful that perhaps one of the great serpents that comes by might be the one he knew, even loved.

Dealing with incursions from bands of ruffians and the occasional misguided carnivore was to him a mindless chore. It only required a tiny fraction of his skill and could often be dealt with with a single shot from his oversized rifle. But on one day he treated this task with the utmost attention and excitement. Apparently in a separate confrontation a combat team belonging to the Biyayei, a rival clan, had been separated from their main force and given little choice but to seek cover in the dangerous jungle. Desperately wanting a chance to search there for his own reasons, Nadiel was quick to volunteer his services to eliminate the mild threat. He and his 10-man squad had diligently tracked the force to the base of the Ascarlin mountains headed due north. "How many?" he asked his lieutenant. "One cadre, 54 men" she replied. Even at the prospect of seeing through his highest goal the thought of dealing with such an insignificant foe caused Nadiel to let out a long sigh. His squad knew what that sign meant, and promptly accepted it as his trademark call to have them return home so that this irritating task could be dealt with without the complications of their presence. Alone now on the side of the mountain, gazing ahead to the north, Nadiel was finally free to do as he pleased. His combat mask may have hidden his grin from his comrades, but the frantic pace he now made towards the first trees could not have possibly fooled anyone now.

Since he did agree to eliminate the threat he figured that he might as well enjoy the activity. Instead of carefully silencing the enemy soldiers one by one as his training instructed him to, he very blatantly announced his intentions to them with a single shot that bored a gory hole through their commanding officer and two of his bodyguards. The 51 men left alive needed only to trace the crimson trail of blood backwards to see what had caused the damage. All at once they opened up with their automatic firearms, causing enough noise to alert the entire jungle that tasty morsels were running about, precisely as Nadiel had hoped that they would. Now feeling artistic, he proceeded to lay waste to the remainder of their forces using nothing but the razor-sharp edge of his rifle's barrel, which he could wield in surprising bursts of grace and speed. Within a minute the jungle had become a bloody graveyard. And as he stood over the last corpse with his weapon embedded in its skull, Nadiel could now take a deep breath and focus on the real work at hand. It would only be another moment before his his plan would be confirmed a success. His surroundings had become quiet, far more quiet than they should be. The last of his victims had ceased to moan in pain and the birds were no longer making their obnoxious squawking noises. It even seemed as though the wind had halted to make its familiar rustle in the greenery. Something was nearby, something big. By a stroke of luck Nadiel was able to find out what it was that had answered his call. Looking closely at his rifle's cylindrical magazine, he could clearly see the reflection of a figure behind him, certainly a female naga who had at least made it to young adulthood. A perfect candidate. He could hardly guess who this striking blonde was, but this scenario was too good to be true. He could see that she was still silently advancing towards him, regardless to her intentions it was clear that she would be on him in a matter of seconds. In a concerted jolt of lightning-fast movement, the two came face to face.

OOOO nice

Right, that covered just about everything till the end of the first page of the comic, this next chunk should handle the other two plus some events that were intended to happen afterward.

The moment was quite awkward for both parties. Nadiel would have been wise to immediately shoot his attacker dead, after all he had a perfectly clear shot at her brain, jugular vein, carotid artery, spinal cord, heart, liver, kidneys, renal arteries, really all of her vital spots for she wore no armor, clothes, or any protection whatsoever. He, however, had business to conduct ahead of his personal safety. He studied her form thoroughly (and contentedly), trying to see if there were any physical signs to identify her positively. He could find none, the naga he knew may have had shorter hair and a less developed figure, but after twelve years that would have inevitably changed. At a total loss he began to mutter curses to himself. All the while his would-be predator was left no less puzzled by the situation. It wasn't often that one of her prey items would stand up to her. Why was there only one human left alive? Did he really butcher all of the others all on his own? Why was he looking at her so closely? Shouldn't he be either fighting for his life or running away? Had he lost his mind? In one last ditch attempt to try and make a connection, Nadiel removed his combat mask. Perhaps if this naga was Ryoko she would recognize his face. But to no avail, Crisis recognized nothing but another piece of human meat. But just then, the most remarkably lucky thing happened.

In the distance both heard clearly a most familiar sound, the even marching of yet another Biyayei cadre. Nadiel muttered yet another volley of curses, this time for his daft broad of a lieutenant. In spite of this, a great opportunity had fallen into his lap, and he wasn't foolish enough to let it pass him by. "Do you know what that is?" He asked aloud, and in her tell-tale playful banter Crisis responded in turn. He did not need to work hard at all to convince her that they would make a fine dinner. Convincing her that he would not was a different story altogether. He gave her fair warning that he could tear her innards apart if ingested, and this was no lie or bluff. His kind was all too used to being eaten by large creatures, and so he carried enough concentrated base to nullify her stomach acid for hours, and even without his rifle he could carve his way out with his hidden knife. But she had value to him while still alive, in reality he would most likely use another drug cocktail to numb her and relax the muscles of her esophagus to escape the way he entered. He still had questions to ask, and so he stood his ground. It was only realistic that Crisis would be skeptical of his claims. She had never seen any of his clan before, and even the thought of such a thing seemed to her like the kind of nonsense that her prey would use as a desperate excuse to live for another few seconds. But something was different about this human. He carried a weapon but did not fire it. He was obviously quick on his feet, but did even take a single step back. More than anything it was the look in his eye that caused her to reconsider. Even crazy suicidal humans didn't look so calm and focused. It was time to see what he was made of.

Crisis lifted Nadiel close, close enough to perform the naga equivalent of a lie detector test. He did not flinch, even as he was held within arm's reach of a pair of nostrils larger than his head. He underwent a thorough sniffing, followed by an attentive listening to. Crisis was blessed with keen senses and could clearly make out the sounds of the various processes in his anatomy. Beyond the whisper of his breathing was the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Even just inches from death this man did not shed a bead of sweat, nor did his system respond to any instincts or stimuli that would be so obvious in a man who felt even the tiniest pang of fear. Not only did Nadiel mean every word that he uttered, but he had gone about uttering them face to face with a man-eating carnivore as though he was explaining himself to a member his own species, or even something smaller. It even dawned upon her that he really could kill her if he only had a mind to, even effortlessly at that. Mind you, this was quite a shock to a being who until just a moment ago thought she was all but invincible. But then she realized, he didn't have a mind to kill her, and since she was but moments away form trying to take his life, he must have a very good reason. Her curiosity piqued, Crisis was now willing to play along, if for no reason than to see what it was that he needed her for.

With that, Crisis was promptly put to use to clean up the human infestation in the jungle. She could only stomach 23 of the genetically-altered brutes, but that would suffice. Now that she was in a much more mellow mood the real questioning could commence. The two exchanged names, and though greatly disheartened that Crisis was certainly not Ryoko, and that she had never heard of anyone who went by that name, Nadiel managed to maintain optimism. The fact that Crisis allowed him to rest on her bosom may have had some effect on this, but at any rate he was willing to put off his search for another day. His new acquaintance may yet have value to him, and so he made himself ready to wait and see who she would lead him to at sunrise.

This give nice justice to the comic you drawed I think ^_^

I have a fairly good idea how the next part is going to play out, Crisis will end up taking Nadiel on a wild goose chase throughout the whole jungle that lasts for days and on many occasions brings him within an inch of losing his life and his sanity. I still need to work on how some of the individual encounters play out, but expect to see progress soon, in both written and comic forms. Until then, critiques and suggestions will be well received.